Self-playing piano attachment.



No. 780,?079.. ATENTED JAN. l?, 190? W: w. WATERMAN.

SELF PLAHNG PMN@ ATTACHMENT.

ILED NOV. 7. 1903.

' A rn/Emsa j@ AUORNEY UNITED STATES Patented January 17, 1905.

PATENT OFFICE.

SELF-PLAYING PIANO ATTACHMENT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 780,079, dated January17, 1905.

Application filed November 7, 1903. Serial No. 180,223.

To all whom, t may concern:

Beit known th at I, VILLIAM 1V. VATERMAN, a citizen of the UnitedStates, and arcsident of Bridgeport, in the county oi' Fairfield andState of Connecticut, have invented certain new and usefullmprovementsin Seli-Playing Piano Attachments, of which the following isa specification.

My invention relates to self-playing attachments for pianos; and itconsists in certain details oi` construction, to be more l'ully setforth in the following` speciiication.

To enable others to understand my invention, reference is had to theaccompanying' drawings, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation oi' one ofthe linger bars carrying finger -pads, broken View of two of thepiano-keys, sectional view of the tracker, support for the iinger-bars,wind-chest, and broken view ci' the drivingcylinder. Fig. 2 is abrokenupper plan view, partly in section, of the wind-chest and broken planview of the piano-keys and plan viewot' two oi' the iinger-bars, planview of two of the diaphragm-bars, the driving-cylinder not shown. Fig.3 is a broken detail view ot' the driving-cylinder and one oi' the shoesof the key-bars out of contact with the cylinder.

Its construction and operation are as i'ollows:

1 represents the wind-chest, which is adapted to extend nearly the fulllength ot' the keyboard, or, in other words, a distance suiiicient toembrace the width of the music-sheet oi' sixty-tive notes.

2 is the air-chamber; 3, broken view of the pipe or air connectionleading' from the airchamber to the air-suction pump below, but

4 represents a series oil vacuum pockets or chambers, one for each note.

5 is a hole extending through the partition 6 and leading into thechamber 2. T is a thin cover overlying' this hole, having the smallpin-hole 8 therethrough to form an air connection between the chamber 2and the pockets 4r.

A channel leads from each vacuum-pocket transversely through thewind-chest above the chamber 2. 9 is one of these channels. (Shown atFigs. 1 and 2.)

10 is one ci' a series oi' vertical air-pipes whose lower ends open intosaid channels and whose upper ends are connected to the rubber tubes 10,and these rubber tubes are connected directly with the tracker 11. Thistracker has a series oi' small holes, one, 12, being shown, which leadinto these vertical pipes.

Over-lying each oi' the vacuum-pockets are the flexible diaphragme 13,and connected thereto are the short bars 1-1. 15 represents shortvertical rods projecting from these bars, which are loosely attached tothe pins 16 in one end ot' the connecting-rods 17. 18 represen ts pinsin the opposite ends of these rods, which are loosely attached tothevertical rods 19, which rods are connected to one arm otl a series ofbell-crank levers. One only, 20, is shown at Fig. 1. These levers arepivotally connected to the fixed support 21. The other arm ot' thesebell-crank levers is pivoted to the connection 22. 23 is a rod attachedto this connection, and it carries at its lower end the shoe 24, adaptedto engage with the drivingcylinder 25, presently to bc more fullycxplained.

26 is one oi a series ot' vertical bars pivoted to the connections 22,and 27 represents a seriesof wires which connect these bars with eachoi' the iinger-bars 28. 29 represents reduced portions of these bars andiior convenience in closing or folding them up may be secured to theheavier portion of the bars by the rivets 30.

31 represents the linger-pads, adapted to engage the piano-keys 32 and33. The iingerbars are pivotally supported to the stationary cross-piece3-1 by means ci' the vertical bars 35.

The pipes 10 are so connected with the wind-chest that they will allstand vertical and will not have to be bent to line with the tracker.

36 is a spring adapted to be placed between each of the vertical rods 19and the wind-chest to exert a constant pressure against said rods forthe purpose presently to be explained.

Operation: The driving-cylinder 25 is running continuously while thepiano is being played. Vhen, therefore, the hole 1Q of the tracker isclosed by an unperforated portion of the music-sheet, the exhaust-pumpor bellows operated by the feet will exhaust the air from the chamber 2,pockets 4L, channels 9, and pipes 10. In other words, there will be avacuum formed in the wind-chest and above the same. This vacuum willcause the flexible diaphragm to fall in or sink down into the pockets,andthis downward movement of the diaphragms will lift the shoe 24 fromthe cylinder and also compress the spring 36. The instant a perforationin the music-sheet has uncovered the hole 12 of the tracker the air willrush down into the pocket 4; but owing to the very small pin-hole 8 thevolume of air cannot flow into thc chamber Q'fast enough to cause a lossof its force before the diaphragm 13 is lifted sufficient to permit thespring 36 to throw down the shoe 24 onto the continuouslyrunningcylinder and carry said shoe from its position shown at Figs. 1 and 3 tothe dotted position shown at Fig. 1. This will tilt the finger-barconnected with such shoe and depress its opposite end to sound a note.

The construction above described is very simple and cheap, as there areno valves to be operated and get out of order.

Having thus described my invention, what l claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

1. ln a self-playing attachment for pianos, the combination with awind-chest, a tracker over which perforated sheet-music is fed,

said tracker having air-passages leading therefrom, of pockets locatedat the end of said passages, each pocket of larger area in crosssectionthan the air-passage opening therein, a flexible diaphragm overlyingeach of said pockets, key-actuating mechanism connected with saiddiaphragms, air-passages of smaller area in cross-section than saidtracker airpassages and leading from said pockets to said wind-chest,for the purpose set forth.

2. ln a self-playing attachment for pianos, the combination with awind-chest and a tracker over which perforated sheet-music is fed, saidtracker having air-passages leading therefrom, of pockets located at theend of said passages, each pocket larger in cross-scction than saidair-passages opening therein and of smaller area at the bottom, aflexible diaphragm overlying said pockets, key-actuating mechanismconnected with said diaphragms, air-passages of smaller area incrosssection than said tracker air-passages and leading from saidpockets to said wind-chest, for the purpose set forth.

3. In a self-playing attachment for pianos, the combination with awindchest and a tracker over which perforated sheet-music is fed, saidtracker having air-passages leading therefrom, of concave pocketslocated at the end of said passages and of larger arca in cross-sectionthan said air-passages, air-passages of smaller arca in cross-sectionthan said tracker air-passages and lcadingfiom the bottom of saidpockets to said wind-chest, a ilexible diaphragm overlying said pockets,key-actuating' mechanism connected with said diaphragms comprising thehorizontal connecting-rods 17, bell-cranks 14: and 15, bell-crank levers19, connections 22 carrying at their lower ends shoes 24 adapted toengage the driving-cylinder 25, vertical bars 26 intermediate of thelinger-bars 28 and said connections, for the purpose set forth.

Signed at Bridgeport, in the county of Fairlield and State ofConnecticut, this 6th day of November, A. D. 1903.

lVlLLlAM l/V. WA'lERMAN. Witnesses:

GEORGE 1V. FINN, S. J. CHAFFEE.

